Kolkata, March 11 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former West Bengal education secretary Manish Jain and expelled Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh in connection with the SSC teachers’ recruitment corruption case, sources in the central agency said on Wednesday.
Both have been asked to appear before the ED at its Kolkata office next week as part of the ongoing investigation.
Earlier, the ED had also summoned former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee for questioning in the same case.
Ghosh had previously been arrested by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the primary teachers’ recruitment scam. He is currently out on bail.
Manish Jain had also been questioned earlier by the CBI in the recruitment corruption case and had appeared before the agency during the investigation.
Sources said the ED has recently intensified its probe into the recruitment scams. An ED official said Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee have been summoned again on March 16 and March 18, respectively. The agency is also planning to summon several other individuals linked to the case later this month.
It may be recalled that former education minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in July 2022 for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore SSC teachers’ recruitment scam.
On the day of his arrest, ED officials had recovered around Rs 20 crore in cash from the residence of his close associate Arpita Mukherjee, who was also arrested in the case. Mukherjee was granted bail in 2024.
In September last year, the Calcutta High Court granted bail to Chatterjee. However, he could not be released immediately due to a Supreme Court directive stating that he would be freed only after the trial court completed the examination of key witnesses within two months.
Chatterjee was eventually released from judicial custody on November 11 last year.
–IANS
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